Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Transactions....

Good to hear that Jason Giambi—athlete supreme—had to be removed from a game in the 7th inning after legging out a single. That's right, he ran 90 feet then proclaimed himself "gassed." Way to earn your million, Jason.

When all is said and done, I can't see the Arizona Cardinals trading Anquan Boldin. They know that whatever they get in a trade will not be equal to what Boldin brings to their team. The Giants, Ravens, Dolphins or Eagles would have to give up a no. 1 and a no. 2 to even get the Cardinals to the table.

The Yankees better hope Chien-Ming Wang is healthy and that all this early-season shellacking he's taking is just rust. Because a rotation that looked formidable suddenly gets a whole lot of question marks on it if Wang's reliable 200 IP and 19 wins are lost. Just look at last year. Oh, and another thing...the Yankees were unwilling to discuss a multi-year package with Wang before the season. Makes you wonder if they knew something more than they were telling.

OK, I said it before, but this late afternoon start to the NFL Draft is crap. Yes, I know the NFL wants the Draft to go "Prime Time." But the whole fun of the Draft was getting up early, tailgating outside Radio City (or watching the people who do), and getting started at 11 and spending the whole day watching the draft. Now the draft starts and I'm in the middle of doing other stuff and then going out for the evening. People do have lives and there's always drinking to be done. C'mon, NFL. Put draft back where it's supposed to be. Early Saturday afternoon and let the NFL fans enjoy their whole draft day.

You know there are a lot of excuses to why the New Yankee Stadium is a home run launching pad. But here's the one that I find the most compelling: We're 13 games into the place. Let's give it a while before we come to any conclusions.

Word on the street is that a lot of teams have fallen in love with fast-riser Josh Freeman. This to me, is a potential whopper of a mistake. Late and fast-risers on team's draft boards aren't always busts, but often are. Akili Smith, Kyle Boller and Jim Druckenmiller leap to mind. Scouts fall in love with the potential a player has, and not what he is realistically capable of doing. Sure, Freeman has a rocket arm and the size teams drool over. But can he read a Belichek-complex defense? Is he accurate? Does he lock on to one receiver, or bail out of the pocket too soon? Just look at Jamarcus Russel. He can throw it out of the stadium, but was he ready to lead a NFL team? No. So don't necessarily just fall in love with the big arm, but check if he can read the defense and make the right throw.

Glad to see that on ESPN's front page they have the hot, important item: A. Bynum may be dating Rihianna. Wow. That's important stuff. ESPN. What a great sports news resource.

Great to see Washington Nationals Jordan Zimmermann outduel Derek Lowe and win his big league debut. If there's going to be consistent baseball in D.C., there needs to be at least some hope. And this kid, if he can provide, would keep baseball alive in Washington. Let's hope he can do it.

Boy did the Eagles do well for themselves. Getting a guaranteed NFL-ready left tackle in his prime with only the 28th pick in the draft. Heck, they were not going to do that well with the 28th pick—how many Pro Bowl left tackles are at 28 in the draft? Well done, Eagles.

Word is that Hideki Irabu is trying to make a comeback. Yes, that Irabu.

That he’s aiming for a comeback is true. Because he’s gotten back into shape, he came to want play again. He’s playing with a cheerful demeanor. He wants to get tryouts and find a club he can play for. He’s looking to make a comeback in the independent leagues during the season. Looking to the future, the thinking is that if possible he wants to return to a high level, like MLB or NPB.

My only question is: He was ever in shape to "get back into" it?

And finally, meet Ryan Del Rosal. Ryan wants to play football. Very badly. So badly, he's trying to get the attention of NFL scouts in hopes he gets drafted. Unfortunately, the 6-5, 311 offensive tackle played at little-known division II Dixie State college in Utah. So to get known, he's getting into shape, by pulling a 5000-lb. Chevy Tahoe down the street. And heck, if he doesn't get into football, that kind of stuff always has a home on ESPN II. Or the Ocho, wherever they put those crazy bus-dragging contests.

BE A PLAYER!

About Me

Born and raised in Brooklyn, I'm a sports junkie with an overabundance of opinions and a unused degree in writing. I decided to let vent with this blog and hope somebody out there would like to read what I write. Hope you enjoy, and if you do or don't let me know what you think.